A life of success begins with being a landlord.

I thought about it, and it makes sense.

My injuries haven't healed yet, so I shouldn't overexert myself.

So I stepped aside and let the fat guy into the house: "I'll give you a receipt."

Kuai Dafa entered the house, grinning shamelessly at Chunyan and me.

Chunyan glared at Kuai Dafa, went into my small bedroom, and slammed the door shut.

I found the rental agreement and ledgers, checked the rent, and warned Kuai Dafa again: "Kuai Dafa, don't go to 604 again, or even Gold Tooth can't protect you!"

"I understand, brother. I won't go again."

Kuai Dafa turned to look at the small room and deliberately raised his voice: "But Old Xia from 604 still owes me a lot of money!"

I asked, "How much money does Lao Xia owe you?"

Kuai Dafa was taken aback: "You're helping him pay it back?"

"I'm just asking you how much you owe!" I glared at him.

"I owe... about five or six hundred yuan."

"Okay, I'll pay you back, but in a few days."

I collected the rent from Kuai Dafa and gave him a receipt.

Kuai Dafa didn't leave, chuckling, "Brother, you and Dao Zaixiong are good friends, can you do me a favor? If you do me a favor, I'll forgive the money Lao Xia owes me."

"I can't help you, you should go back."

I waved him away, not wanting to have anything to do with this fatso.

Who do you think you are? Are you so special that I would ask Daozaixiong for your help?

Although I am young, I know that once I ask for a favor, it will be the last time I have to do so.

Dao Zixiong owes me a huge favor, and it's not worth it for me to ask him for help for such a small thing and then have him repay the favor so easily!

As for helping Chunyan find a job, that's a different matter. Last night, Chunyan also helped Awen and Amei.

"No, bro."

Kuai Dafa was still persistent: "How about this, you help me with this, and I'll give you another thousand yuan, okay?"

"I said no, didn't you hear me? Stop babbling and get out!"

I raised my voice.

"Alright bro, I won't disturb your sleep anymore, I'm off."

Kuai Da sighed, shook his head, and left.

Chunyan then came out and smiled at me: "Old Wang, you're the only one who can keep this fatso in check."

"Don't worry, he'll behave himself from now on. His biggest backer is Gold Tooth."

I chuckled and said, "Want to watch a DVD? I'll find you one."

Chunyan shook her head: "I should go home... Oh, by the way, don't give Lao Xia the money my dad owes. It's pointless to give it to him. Let him figure out how to pay his debts himself."

Just then, a series of applause and shouts, along with the rhythmic stomping of feet, came from upstairs, deafeningly loud.

I felt like all the dust on the ceiling had been shaken down.

Chunyan listened intently, then frowned and looked at the ceiling: "What's going on upstairs? It's so noisy!"

I shook my head, wanting to go up and take a look.

Coincidentally, the tenant of apartment 301 across the street came knocking on the door again.

Two couples lived in apartment 301 across the hall: the older sister and her husband, and the younger sister and her husband, plus two children.

My aunt and uncle came to see me.

I know that my aunt's husband shares the same surname as me, Wang Qiang, and we're from the same province, so we call each other "fellow townsman" when we meet.

Wang Qiang offered me a cigarette: "Hey landlord, it's too noisy upstairs. We can't sleep at all, and we have to go to work tomorrow. Could you talk to them and tell them to be more careful?"

I took the cigarette: "It's a bit noisy. Why don't you come upstairs with me and take a look?"

Wang Qiang hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

Wang Qiang and I went upstairs together, and Chunyan followed to see what was going on.

Knock, knock, knock! I raised my hand to knock on the door.

The room immediately fell silent, and the door opened.

I was startled when I opened the door!

There were thirty or forty people, or even more, in the room, men and women huddled together, sitting on low plastic stools, filling the living room and hallway.

Wang Qiang, who had been somewhat aggressive, immediately lost his temper upon seeing this and took two steps back.

Huang Aijun, impeccably dressed in a suit and tie, stood guard at the door, preventing me from entering: "Landlord, is there something you need?"

"You guys are too noisy. You're disturbing the peace of the upstairs, downstairs, and next-door neighbors."

I peered into the room and asked, "Why are there so many people in your room? How many people live here?"

Every man and woman in the room was dressed very formally.

The men wore suits or shirts with ties; the women mostly wore blazers and had clean faces.

Moreover, he was full of energy and his eyes shone brightly!

"I'm sorry, landlord."

Huang Aijun apologized politely, nodding slightly: "These are all our company's business partners, having a meeting here tonight. There are only six or seven people staying here."

I shook my head: "Why don't you hold meetings at the company? What's the point of having meetings at home?"

Huang Aijun laughed and said, "The company headquarters is relocating, it will be fine in a while. You can go back now, landlord, we'll be careful."

"Alright."

I nodded and beckoned Wang Qiang and Chunyan to come downstairs.

After we went downstairs, Wang Qiang smiled bitterly at me: "Those people don't own companies at all; they're involved in pyramid schemes."

I was a little curious: "Fellow villager, what exactly is pyramid selling?"

"He's a scammer who specializes in deceiving relatives, acquaintances, friends, classmates, and comrades-in-arms."

"They seemed very polite to me, dressed in suits, they didn't seem like scammers."

"They're liars, not robbers."

Wang Qiang laughed: "Of course a conman has to wear a suit and tie, otherwise, how would he swindle money?"

I smiled, waved goodbye to Wang Qiang, and we went our separate ways.

As soon as I entered, I heard singing, applause, and stomping from upstairs, the rhythm lively, wave after wave.

I'm about to break down.

Chunyan listened intently and chuckled, "Their singing is quite beautiful; it's a young monk going down the mountain to beg for alms..."

Begging for alms? What a load of rubbish!

I shook my head, stomped my feet, and prepared to go upstairs to find Huang Aijun again.

Knock, knock, knock! Someone is knocking on the door again.

I thought it was Wang Qiang again, so I opened the door.

But there were three men and women standing outside the door. They were from room 304 and were also roommates of Kuai Dafa downstairs.

"Landlord, something's upstairs doing something awful, it stinks!"

Upon arrival, the previous tenant immediately launched into a tirade: "Go and take a look at our 304 apartment, is it even habitable?"

Another tenant said, "The bathroom in apartment 404 upstairs is leaking, and I don't know what's leaking, but it stinks!"

Is the bathroom leaking?

I frowned and nodded: "Okay, I'll go take a look. You wait a moment, I'll get a flashlight."

Chunyan blocked my way: "No, you were slashed last night, such a big wound, you can't work now!"

I sighed, "The tenants are here, what should we do? Let's go check on them."

Now I understand why Sister Li asked me to help her.

She, a woman, really couldn't handle this mess of tenants.

Chunyan couldn't dissuade me, so she took a flashlight and came with me to look.

Upon entering the building and going up to the third floor, I indeed smelled a faint stench.

Once inside 304, the stench became even stronger, with a hint of sourness.

I sniffed: "What...what's that smell?"

The tenant pointed upstairs: "I suspect it's the smell from upstairs. I often see the fat guy upstairs carrying medicine into his house, big buckets and big buckets of it."

Is that Kuai Dafa upstairs?

I don't have any evidence, so I won't comment for now. Let's check the restroom in room 304 first.